Until in Different Languages
Discover 'Until' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 5, 2024
The word 'until' is a small but powerful part of many languages, denoting the concept of time extending up to a certain point. Its significance lies in its ability to create a sense of anticipation and progression, making it a crucial component in storytelling and communication. Throughout history, 'until' has been used in various cultural contexts, from literature to music, to express the passage of time and the build-up to a climactic moment.
For those with a passion for language and culture, understanding the translation of 'until' in different languages can offer fascinating insights into how different cultures conceptualize and express time. For instance, in Spanish, 'until' translates to 'hasta' (pronounced 'asta'), while in French, it's 'jusqu'à' (pronounced 'zhuska'). In German, 'until' becomes 'bis' (pronounced 'biss'), and in Japanese, it's 'まで' (pronounced 'made').
Exploring these translations can open up a world of cultural discovery, helping us to better understand and appreciate the diversity of human expression. So, let's delve into the many translations of 'until' and discover the richness of language and culture that awaits us.
Until
Until in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | tot | ||
| The Afrikaans word "tot" is derived from the Dutch word "tot", meaning "until" or "up to". It can also mean "per" or "for". | |||
| Amharic | እስከ | ||
| The word "እስከ" ("until") also means "as far as," "up to," or "even". | |||
| Hausa | har sai | ||
| The word "har sai" also means "except", a useful nuance for specifying that something is the only or first of its kind. | |||
| Igbo | ruo | ||
| "Ruo" can also mean "down", as in "falling down" or "going down". | |||
| Malagasy | mandra- | ||
| The word "mandra-" can also mean "since" or "from". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | mpaka | ||
| In Nyanja, 'mpaka' can also mean 'boundary' or 'junction'. | |||
| Shona | kusvikira | ||
| The word "kusvikira" can also mean "to follow" or "to pursue" in Shona. | |||
| Somali | ilaa | ||
| The word "ilaa" in Somali is also used as a noun to refer to a destination, such as a place or a goal. | |||
| Sesotho | ho fihlela | ||
| The word "ho fihlela" may also be expanded as "to the point of causing someone to meet" and is synonymous with "ho kopana". It is commonly used to refer to an action that has the potential to result in an encounter or meeting. | |||
| Swahili | mpaka | ||
| Xhosa | kude kube | ||
| The term "kude kube" literally translates to "even if it's to the end". | |||
| Yoruba | titi | ||
| The Yoruba word "titi" can also mean "up to" or "as far as". | |||
| Zulu | kuze kube | ||
| The phrase 'kuze kube' derives from the word 'ukukubeka', meaning 'to place'. | |||
| Bambara | fɔ | ||
| Ewe | va se ɖe | ||
| Kinyarwanda | kugeza | ||
| Lingala | kino | ||
| Luganda | mpaka nga | ||
| Sepedi | go fihla | ||
| Twi (Akan) | kɔpem | ||
Until in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | حتى | ||
| The etymology of the word “حتى” is connected to words such as "conclude", "accomplish", "determine" or "complete" | |||
| Hebrew | עד | ||
| Pashto | تر | ||
| The word "تر" can also mean "to go" or "to reach" in Pashto. | |||
| Arabic | حتى | ||
| The etymology of the word “حتى” is connected to words such as "conclude", "accomplish", "determine" or "complete" | |||
Until in Western European Languages
| Albanian | deri në | ||
| The word "deri në" can also mean "as far as", "to the extent", or "even if", depending on the context. | |||
| Basque | arte | ||
| "Arte" is also the name of the Basque goddess of creation and nature. | |||
| Catalan | fins | ||
| In Catalan, "fins" can also mean "edge" or "border". | |||
| Croatian | do | ||
| "Do" is a polysemic word in Croatian, and one of its meanings is "until." | |||
| Danish | indtil | ||
| Indtil is cognate with English 'until', Latin 'inter', and Sanskrit 'antar' meaning among or between. | |||
| Dutch | tot | ||
| In Dutch, "tot" can also mean "on" or "to" in reference to a direction or location. | |||
| English | until | ||
| The word 'until' originally meant 'to the time when', and is related to the Old English words 'til' and 'untill' | |||
| French | jusqu'à | ||
| "Jusqu'à" was formed from "juxta" (French="près de") followed by the adverb "ad" (which reinforced the first). | |||
| Frisian | oant | ||
| The Frisian word "oant" is the shortened form of the Middle Dutch "ont dat" (until that). | |||
| Galician | ata | ||
| In Galician, "ata" can also mean "towards" or "on the verge of". | |||
| German | bis um | ||
| The word "bis um" in German is a contraction of "bis" (until) and "um" (around). | |||
| Icelandic | þar til | ||
| "Þar til" was the only preposition for "until" in Old Icelandic; hence it was also used in contexts when we today would use "to". | |||
| Irish | go dtí | ||
| Italian | fino a | ||
| The word “fino a” can also mean “up to” or “as far as.” | |||
| Luxembourgish | bis | ||
| In Luxembourgish, "bis" can also mean "as far as" or express the repetition of an action. | |||
| Maltese | sa | ||
| The word "sa" is also used to express "so" or "such" in Maltese. | |||
| Norwegian | før | ||
| "Før" comes from a Proto-West-Norse word meaning either "to bring" or "forward". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | até | ||
| The word 'até' derives from the Latin preposition 'ad tenus', meaning 'up to' or 'as far as'. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | gus | ||
| Like the Irish cognate "go dtí", "gus" can also mean "with" or "in order to". | |||
| Spanish | hasta | ||
| The word "hasta" is derived from the Latin word "ad sta" meaning "to this place (in time or space)" | |||
| Swedish | fram tills | ||
| "Fram tills" is cognate with the English phrase "from till," suggesting a meaning of "from this day until that day," but is never used this way and has no separate meaning from "until." | |||
| Welsh | tan | ||
| The Welsh word 'tan' can also mean 'under' or 'below' depending on the context. | |||
Until in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | пакуль | ||
| "Пакуль" is related to "пока" ("until") in Russian, Ukrainian and other Slavic languages. It also means "while" in Belarusian. | |||
| Bosnian | do | ||
| "Do" can also mean "to" in Bosnian. | |||
| Bulgarian | до | ||
| The word "до" in Bulgarian can also mean "to" or "up to". | |||
| Czech | dokud | ||
| In some older Czech texts, "dokud" can also mean "as long as" instead of "until". | |||
| Estonian | aastani | ||
| Finnish | siihen asti kun | ||
| The Finnish word "siihen asti kun" can also be used to mean "as long as" or "when". | |||
| Hungarian | amíg | ||
| "Amíg" also means "as long as, during" and it also means "since," "for," "from" and "up to." | |||
| Latvian | līdz | ||
| Derived from the Proto-Baltic word *léidži, meaning "between", it is cognate with Lithuanian ligi. | |||
| Lithuanian | iki | ||
| The word "iki" in Lithuanian is also used to mean "two" and is derived from the Proto-Balto-Slavic word "*d(u)wi". | |||
| Macedonian | додека | ||
| The word "додека" in Macedonian is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *dodekǫ, which means "between" or "until." | |||
| Polish | aż do | ||
| The word 'aż do' can also mean 'up to' or 'as far as' when used in a spatial or temporal sense. | |||
| Romanian | pana cand | ||
| The Romanian word "până când" is derived from the Old Romanian word combination "pe cine va", meaning "until when". | |||
| Russian | до | ||
| "До" can also mean "before" or "up to" depending on the context. | |||
| Serbian | све док | ||
| The word "све док" can also mean "always" or "constantly" in Serbian. | |||
| Slovak | do | ||
| The word "do" in Slovak can also mean "as far as" or "to the extent that". | |||
| Slovenian | do | ||
| The Slovenian word “do” can also mean “so” or “until”. | |||
| Ukrainian | до | ||
| "До" is a polysemantic word in Ukrainian that can also mean "to", "at" or "before". | |||
Until in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | অবধি | ||
| The word অবধি also means "boundary or limit." | |||
| Gujarati | ત્યાં સુધી | ||
| Hindi | जब तक | ||
| The word "जब तक" in Hindi can also mean "as long as" or "whenever". | |||
| Kannada | ತನಕ | ||
| ತನಕ derives from the word ತನು, meaning "body", and originally meant "to the edge of one's body". | |||
| Malayalam | വരുവോളം | ||
| The word "വരുവോളം" is also used to indicate "arrival" or "duration". | |||
| Marathi | पर्यंत | ||
| In Marathi, 'पर्यंत' may also mean 'within' and 'along' | |||
| Nepali | सम्म | ||
| सम्म (samm) also means "in the meantime" in Nepali. | |||
| Punjabi | ਜਦ ਤੱਕ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | තුරු | ||
| The word "තුරු" can also mean "while" or "when" depending on the context. | |||
| Tamil | வரை | ||
| "வரை" can also be used to denote a boundary, limit or range. | |||
| Telugu | వరకు | ||
| The word "వరకు" is derived from the Sanskrit word "पर्यन्त" (paryanta), meaning "up to", "as far as", or "limit". | |||
| Urdu | جب تک | ||
| Jab tak is also used to refer to a condition or situation which may or may not occur in the future, but when it does, the action specified in the main clause will take place. | |||
Until in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 直到 | ||
| "直到" also means "to go straight to a place." | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 直到 | ||
| Until can also mean until now, so far, and (more literally) up to. | |||
| Japanese | まで | ||
| "迄" is a variant of "まで" that is used in some dialects and legal documents. | |||
| Korean | ...까지 | ||
| In addition to its temporal meaning, 까지 (kkaji) can also be used as a quantifier or a limit in some expressions, e.g., “하루까지” (haru kkaji, for one day) | |||
| Mongolian | хүртэл | ||
| The word 'хүртэл' can also be used to mean 'up to', 'as far as', or 'as much as'. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | အထိ | ||
| In Myanmar, "အထိ" also means "including" or "up to". | |||
Until in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | sampai | ||
| As a verb, "sampai" means "to arrive somewhere" or "to reach a point in time or space". | |||
| Javanese | nganti | ||
| The Javanese word 'nganti' also signifies 'wait' or 'expect'. | |||
| Khmer | រហូតដល់ | ||
| Lao | ຈົນກ່ວາ | ||
| Malay | sehingga | ||
| The Malay word "sehingga" also means "border", "bank" (of a river), and "dam". | |||
| Thai | จนถึง | ||
| The word "จนถึง" can also mean "as far as" or "up to". | |||
| Vietnamese | cho đến khi | ||
| In the Vietnamese phrase "cho đến khi," "cho" means "to allow" and "đến" means "to arrive." | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | hanggang | ||
Until in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | qədər | ||
| Qədər can also mean "when" or "time", depending on the context. | |||
| Kazakh | дейін | ||
| Kyrgyz | чейин | ||
| The word "чейин" is also used to express the meaning of "before" in certain contexts. | |||
| Tajik | то | ||
| The Tajik word "то" can also mean "then" or "therefore". | |||
| Turkmen | çenli | ||
| Uzbek | qadar | ||
| The Uzbek word "qadar" has cognates in Ottoman Turkish, Azerbaijani, and Iranian Persian, and is derived from the Arabic word "qadr" meaning "measure" or "destiny". | |||
| Uyghur | تاكى | ||
Until in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | a hiki i | ||
| In Hawaiian poetry, "a hiki i" is also used to indicate the end of a stanza or line. | |||
| Maori | tae noa ki | ||
| The phrase 'tae noa ki' can also mean 'so that', 'in order that', 'to the end that', 'until such time as', 'whenever', or 'until the time that'. | |||
| Samoan | seia | ||
| In some contexts, "seia" can also mean "except for" or "without." | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | hanggang sa | ||
| The Tagalog word "hanggang sa" is thought to have originated from the Proto-Austronesian words "*qaŋkaŋ" (to stretch long things) and "*sa" (direction toward). | |||
Until in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | kama | ||
| Guarani | peve | ||
Until in International Languages
| Esperanto | ĝis | ||
| Ĝis's etymology is from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰi-, meaning 'to come together'. | |||
| Latin | quoadusque | ||
| The word "quoadusque" is derived from the Latin words "quoad" (until) and "usque" (up to). It can also mean "as far as" or "to the extent that". | |||
Until in Others Languages
| Greek | μέχρι | ||
| The word "μέχρι" also means "to the point" or "up to" and is derived from the PIE root *meh₂-, | |||
| Hmong | txog | ||
| In the Hmong Maw language, 'txog' also means 'to reach' or 'to arrive at' a destination. | |||
| Kurdish | ta | ||
| The use of "ta" as a preposition that translates "under" is derived from Persian. | |||
| Turkish | a kadar | ||
| The Turkish word "a kadar" has an alternate meaning of "in relation to" or "with respect to" in expressions of quantity or extent. | |||
| Xhosa | kude kube | ||
| The term "kude kube" literally translates to "even if it's to the end". | |||
| Yiddish | ביז | ||
| The archaic and Yiddish usage of "biz" can mean "towards". This meaning can still occasionally be found in Hebrew texts. | |||
| Zulu | kuze kube | ||
| The phrase 'kuze kube' derives from the word 'ukukubeka', meaning 'to place'. | |||
| Assamese | যেতিয়ালৈকে | ||
| Aymara | kama | ||
| Bhojpuri | तबले | ||
| Dhivehi | ވަންދެން | ||
| Dogri | जदूं तगर | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | hanggang | ||
| Guarani | peve | ||
| Ilocano | inggana | ||
| Krio | te | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | تا | ||
| Maithili | ताधरि | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯐꯥꯑꯣꯕ | ||
| Mizo | hma chuan | ||
| Oromo | hamma | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ପର୍ଯ୍ୟନ୍ତ | ||
| Quechua | hasta | ||
| Sanskrit | यावत् | ||
| Tatar | кадәр | ||
| Tigrinya | ክሳብ | ||
| Tsonga | fikela | ||